It is an incredibly silly exercise to project wins and losses when a schedule is released but that doesn’t stop the whole of social media from doing just that. Here are some thoughts on the schedule overall.
The bye comes at the perfect point in the season for a young team. They will be off the first week in December and follow that break with three of their final five at home, against Detroit, Arizona and Atlanta. If Chicago Bears want to build momentum for the 2024 season, a season where they should be expected to compete for January football, the schedule makers did them serious favors.
Realistically, the Bears would be in position to have a successful 2023 campaign if they’re hovering around .500 at their bye.
It *looks like* DBB will be eschewing our love for the New York City Marathon and venturing to New Orleans for Bears at Saints on November 5th. We could be hosting a fan meet-up somewhere OUTSIDE of the Quarter so stay tuned. (This will most likely be at The Beaded Oak in the Garden District.)
Still want to see the league move away from these divisional matchups in the opening weeks. With so little contact all summer and nobody playing the practice games, it makes no sense to have games that matter so much so early. Start the season with a month of non-conference games.
When is the last time the team with the first pick in the draft had four primetime games the following season? If the Chicago Bears were ever a consistently good club, they’d have double digit games in front of a national audience.
The Thursday Night Football structure is…interesting. They’ll play Washington (without a quarterback) and Carolina (with a tiny quarterback) on short weeks, and then have mini byes before divisional matchups with Minnesota and Detroit. It’s odd but I think the Bears probably like how this shook out.
For weeks, after Chiefs/Bears in Germany was leaked, I stressed that I didn’t believe the report. Why? I was told by someone who knows that Kansas City received numerous complaints from their local hospitality partners about the potential loss of the Chicago tourist horde. Folks don’t understand how important these relationships are in the smaller markets. New York, Chicago, New Orleans don’t care. They don’t need tourists. Kansas City is a football destination, and it is no coincidence that they are playing Miami – with one of the notoriously invisible fan bases in the league – in Frankfurt.
I’m breaking the schedule into the following sections and will use these as evaluative check points during the season. You’ll notice the third section is short but I’m structuring this around moments in the season where the Bears will be able to self-evaluate and make adjustments.
Section I: home Packers, at Bucs, at Chiefs, home Broncos, at Commanders (TNF)
Section II: home Vikings, home Raiders, at Chargers, at Saints, home Panthers (TNF)
Section III: at Lions, at Vikings (MNF), Bye
Section IV: home Lions, at Browns, home Cardinals, home Falcons, at Packers
It wasn’t a particularly interesting draft for the Bears, content-wise. They had lots of picks, and lots of needs. They used those picks to address those needs. Simple as that.
But we’ll start with our club.
The Bears clearly have two elements required to be a successful franchise: an identity and a plan. They want to be fast and athletic (who doesn’t?) but they also want to be tough. They drafted a whole bunch of tough guys this weekend. Ryan Poles is not going to be swayed by popular perception. He stands pat, he trusts his evaluations, he makes his picks. It’s refreshing to see.
As of now, the offensive line looks to be Braxton Jones – Teven Jenkins – Cody Whitehair – Nate Davis – Darnell Wright. Thoughts on this:
While many, including myself, wanted to see the Bears select a center, it is quite understandable that they didn’t see the position as a priority. Offensive lines need SOME veteran leadership and outside of Whitehair, the average age on the rest of this line is 24.
The offensive line was poor last year, outside of Jones and Jenkins. Ryan Poles has replaced the other three positions.
Lucas Patrick and Larry Borom can now fill their appropriate roles, with the former as swing depth inside and the latter as swing depth outside.
The Bears were manhandled in the middle of their defensive line throughout the 2022 season. Look at the size they have added inside:
Andrew Billings is 6’1, 311
Rasheem Green is 6’4, 279
Demarcus Walker is 6’4, 280
Gervon Dexter is 6’6, 312
Zacch Pickens is 6’4, 300
There is no reason to get overexcited about day three selections, but running backs tend to be the exception. And the Bears are wild about Roschon Johnson. Don’t be surprised if they give this kid an opportunity to be their starting running back.
Tyler Scott is a speed addition, protection for Velus Jones’ struggles in 2022. Does this mean Velus’ roster spot is tenuous? It might. If Scott shows he can steal those jet sweeps and go routes, while also contributing on specials, Velus could find himself looking for a home this summer.
The Bears are improved on both lines, hypothetically. If the hypothesis becomes fact, they’ll be playing meaningful football in December.
